Camilla de Vil: Hair-raising experience for Duchess as gust of wind plays havoc with royal hair do

There there, puppies, no need to tremble. This isn't Cruella de Vil come to skin you for a coat.

But it sure does look a lot like her. Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall was turned into the 101 Dalmatians villainess by a violent gust of wind in Newport on the Isle of Wight.

Her trademark grey bob, usually so neat and tidy, was blasted skywards into a wild mop that needed just a touch of black dye to be the mirror of Cruella's.

Hair-raising exploits: Camilla has a bad hair day after she is caught by a gust of wind while visiting a farmers' market on the Isle of Wight

All there in black and white: Cruella de Vil played by Glenn Close

Some might consider the unruly hairstyle an improvement. Earlier this year actress Joan Collins warned that Camilla's bob 'drags her face down'.

The pictures emerged after she appeared to pat husband Prince Charles on the bottom as he inspected an Apache helicopter during a ceremony for Afghanistan troops.

The ceremony, at Wattisham Airfield in Ipswich, Suffolk, was held to honour helicopter crews who fought in Afghanistan and saw a presentation of Operational Service Medals to members of 4 Regiment Army Air Corps.

The royal couple awarded more than 100 campaign medals to servicemen
and women from the regiment who flew and maintained Apache helicopters
during fighting with the Taliban between May 2008 and May this year.

In a short speech, Charles told the soldiers their contributions gave him 'enormous pride'.

'Your
ability to appear in the right place at the right time and deliver the
fiendish amount of weaponry that these attack helicopters provide has
made an enormous difference to operations on the ground,' he said.

He also applauded them for their 'Battle of Britain' approach to war
when they were stationed at Camp Bastion in Helmand Province.

'At Bastion you had to adopt a kind of Battle of Britain
approach to hanging around and waiting for hours for something to
happen and suddenly you are required to leap into action,' he said.

'Your extraordinary ability to provide these attack helicopters when required by the troops on the ground is truly remarkable.'

Charles
then thanked the families of the soldiers for their support and
reflected on the time when his son, Prince Harry, was serving in the
war zone.

Whoops: The Duchess of Cornwall allows her hands to wander as her husband examines an Apache helicopter at Wattisham Airfield, Ipswich

Honour: The Royal couple present medals to helicopter crews who served in Afghanistan

He said: 'I know only too well, having my youngest son serving for a period in Afghanistan, just what it is like being a parent or as one of those left behind.

'So I just wanted, on this occasion, to thank all of the families for the moral support they provide and what they go through when their loved ones are away. I think sometimes that support is taken for granted but I can assure you that I most certainly don't.'

After the presentation of medals, Charles and Camilla met the soldiers and their families.

Regimental Administrative Officer Rachel Webster, 41, from Brigg in Lincolnshire, said she was 'very proud' to be presented with her medal by the Prince.

'He recognised the difference between the cap badges and saw I was wearing a welfare and administrative one. It is nice that he took time to notice,' she said.